Man and woman arrested after gun found following street fight

A man and woman have been arrested after gardaí who spotted a street fight in Dublin city centre recovered a gun and ammunition in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Shortly after midnight, gardaí on patrol in the Abbey Street area of the north inner city spotted a fight between a number of people.

As they moved in one man was seen hastily throwing something into a street bin on nearby Liffey Street.

A search of the bin yielded a parcel or package which was found to contain a suspected gun and rounds of ammunition.

Two people, a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s, were arrested at the scene and were brought to Store Street garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.

The man, who is from the Drimnagh area of Dublin, has previously served time for an armed robbery in which a loaded gun was used.

He was charged on firearm and robbery charges in relation to the hold-up. After being convicted he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Neither the man nor the woman arrested yesterday is believed to be involved in any criminal gang activity.

The gun that was recovered in the bin will undergo ballistic analysis by the Garda Technical Bureau to assess if it is capable of firing, and if it can be linked to any previous crimes. Investigations are ongoing.